Education Funding: A Brief to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services from the British Columbia Teachers' Federation

British Columbia Teachers' Federation

Students in British Columbia are being shortchanged in comparison to students elsewhere in Canada. The teachers of BC are urgently appealing to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services to recommend to government sufficient increases in education funding to reverse this situation and provide more educational services to BC students. The British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) researchers believe these services are vitally important to the students in school now and to the social and economic health of the province in the longer term. In this brief, they will identify how the situation in BC compares to other provinces, and why the government should, as a start, adopt a plan to bring BC's education funding and services up to at the very least the average in Canada. BC is below the Canadian average in improvements to education funding. This is a situation that should not exist in a province endowed with such natural wealth and human potential. Appended are: (1) Per-student operating expenditures in BC and Canada, 2005-06 and 2009-10; (2) Other provinces increased support for students (FTE educators) during enrolment decline; (3) BC falls behind in K to 12 education spending as a percentage of GDP; (4) More students with special needs despite declines in total student enrolment (without Gifted); (5) Loss of specialist teachers; (6) Increase in English Language Learners (ELL); (7) Growth in Aboriginal student population; (8) What if BC increased operating expenditures (current dollars) by the same percentage as Canada between 2005-06 and 2009-10?; (9) What if BC spent the same percentage of GDP on public schools as Canada in 2009-10?; (10) What if BC achieved the same student-educator ratio as Canada in 2009-10?; and (11) BC taxation policies erode funding for public education. (Contains 10 tables, 5 charts, and 6 footnotes.)